Heroes End

It finally happened. It finally freakin' happened. The Hitman series was finally ruined by Square Enix. Also, Manny Pacquiao lost.

So... how about that fight yesterday?

It was bound to happen yet there's shock and disbelief. What were people expecting? You can't win them all.

I don't really care for boxing. I think it's immoral and depraved. I feel like it's wrong to see people beat each other for money. At least pro-wrestling is fake but I digress. Manny Pacquiao seemed to walk right into a knockout punch like he wasn't paying attention. Either his opponent was extremely lucky or Manny was careless, either way, it was decisive. Bet you can't claim it was rigged now, eh?

How many Mexicans does it take to knock Manny out? Just Juan. (canned laughter)

But seriously though, knockouts do terrible damage to the brain. So why did he lose? Some commentators suggest Manny wasn't "hungry" anymore and his success made him complacent. Mommy Dionisia (Manny's mother) blames the pastors and attributes Manny's previous success to his Christian faith. Manny is "born again" you see. Somehow I find the former more convincing. I don't think an omnipotent and all-powerful God gives half a rat's ass about a boxing match.

The Philippine Star has an article suggesting the loss is a "national day of mourning". Excuse me? Hundreds are dead in Compostela from a huge typhoon and a boxer's loss is cause for national mourning? Come on people, get a grip. Fans online and in social media are all upset and crying. Well, if you project all your "pinoy pride" on one person, it's bound to disappoint you.

I never got the whole "I'm proud to be a Filipino because of Manny Pacquiao" thing. I mean, I just don't get it. My mind struggles to make logical connections between being proud of your collective race because of the success of an individual. Does his success imply all of us make good boxers? That cannot be true. Does it imply the drive to excel and succeed, as exemplified by him, are traits exclusive to Filipinos? That's not true either. Does that mean we "produced" a champion like Manny and therefore we should be proud of ourselves? Nah, if you recall, it took a foreigner named Roach and another foreign promoter to recognize Manny's talent. If anything, we should be proud that our poverty and wretched living conditions forced Manny to punch people for a living in the first place. Is that the point? I hope not.

My bold prediction that Manny Pacquiao will be the next President is a bit less likely now.